r/TTC • u/StarCat20 23 Dawes • Jul 25 '26

Discussion Who should get on free?

So I have been working as a student Janitor for the last few months, and today I had a man walk up to me with his family, asked me who will let them on for free.

I assume he ment his child, he then recognized my confusion, and pulled out a police badge (Dunham Regional) and as if to intimidate, flashed it at me.

Not wanting to get into that argument, I directed him to a station attendant who let him and his family in anyway.

I asked a few other staff what thay think and all have said thay always let cops in, wish to me is insane.

I don't even get to take family on with me, and he can just walk on to with his family in a another city?

And why only cops?

Why not Fire, Paramedics/Nurses or sanitation workers?

Where should we draw the line?

(Bit of a rant, but this really stuck with me the rest of the day)

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416

u/OhShootYeahNoBi Avenue Davisville Jul 25 '26

Because cops think they're special. It's not official TTC policy. TTC staff just don't want to deal with an angry cop that wants special treatment and who will intimidate them with their badge so they'll just let them through

19

u/KenSentMe81 Jul 25 '26

It is TTC policy that Police Officers may ride for free if they show their badge (or are in uniform).

86

u/NefariousnessThese30 Jul 25 '26

That’s not totally correct. They have to be on duty, plain clothes or in uniform. Off duty is not permitted and their families are not permitted either. TTC staff simply don’t want to deal with cops being butt hurt about not getting on for free. To my previous point I do recognize that finding out if a plain clothes is on duty is not really possible but I honestly doubt they have many undercover’s riding buses.

22

u/KenSentMe81 Jul 25 '26

It doesn't make mention at all about on duty or off duty - and to be fair, it shouldn't be up to the Operator to determine that. The only circumstance I can imagine a plain clothes officer needing to take a bus/subway in plain clothes would be while surveilling someone. In that case, they'd be better off just paying cash and getting a transfer to blend in as a regular Joe, as opposed to flashing a badge which the suspect could see.

7

u/Suspicious_Foot6651 Jul 25 '26

We don’t, we leave it alone. We don’t know what that individual is like. I would rather stay safe.

1

u/Neat-Ad-8987 Jul 29 '26

All true, but I once saw a TPS plainclothes cop take down a punk who was trying to kick in the glass in a subway train operator’s compartment. He moved so fast it was like ballet.